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Summary
Summary
The villagers' plan to create a splendid garden for their emperor gets bogged down in jealous arguments, happily resolved when the emperor himself comes to visit.
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-4-In old China, an emperor quickly passed through a poor village every year on his way to the summer palace. To entice him to linger, the villagers send a letter inviting him to see a garden they are making for him. When it is completed, the people cannot agree on a name; each citizen thinks his or her own contribution is the most important. Finally, a storm wrecks the garden just before the royal arrival. Insisting on visiting the site anyway, the emperor finds everything to his taste and gives it an appropriate name. This slender, original tale is told in a pleasant manner, though the dialogue is often a tad stilted. The colorful illustrations are strongly indebted to 18th-century European chinoiserie (Thomas Chippendale, et al.). In fact, many could pass as illustrations for Goldoni comedies. Osborn excels in phantasmagorical landscapes and buildings; the storm scene is especially effective. Human figures look European and often appear to be half asleep. Strictly for those who enjoy heavily stylized productions.-John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Discord visits the ``poor but very agreeable'' people of a small Chinese village after they build a garden in honor of the emperor. Each villager wants to name it for his own contribution: the ditchdigger suggests the ``Round Pond Garden,'' the stonecutter proposes the ``Garden Through the Carved Gate,'' and so forth. They cannot agree. Then the monsoons come, soon followed by the emperor himself. Though the villagers think the garden has been ruined by the rains, the emperor has a different perspective-he proclaims that ``all things [in the garden] come together in perfect agreement,'' and names it the ``Garden of Supreme Harmony.'' The villagers then reunite to tidy the garden. Harmony brought about by an act of nature rather than by the resolution of individual conflicts may be less than edifying, but Wolff (Seven Loaves of Bread) at least demonstrates how easily harmony can be destroyed. Strongly colored and eccentrically skewed illustrations by New Yorker artist Osborn (Once Upon a Princess and a Pea) wryly underline the comedy and add a markedly original flavor. Ages 5-up. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Ages 5-8. Once there was a village in China where everyone was so agreeable they "laughed when they talked and smiled when they worked." But this amiability comes to an end when the villagers construct a garden for their emperor. Each laborer insists on naming the garden for his or her contribution: the ditchdigger promotes the name "Round Pond Garden" in honor of the pond he's dug; the bricklayer suggests "Garden of Guided Steps" for the walkway he's laid, and so on. The once-friendly village is in an uproar until the emperor, in his wisdom, recognizes the beauty in the combined aspects of their labors and deems it "the Garden of Supreme Harmony." Incorporating intense color, intricate detail, and Oriental motifs in her vibrant illustrations, Osborn harmoniously amplifies Wolff's agreeable text, making this a most pleasing read-aloud. (Reviewed December 1, 1994)0688116515Ellen Mandel